Friday, May 30, 2008

gutted

finest piece he had ever carved
he looked it over
feeling pride swell in his chest

isn't labour of love
one good motivation?
giving it a final polish

drying it out
he carefully hid it
tears of joy spilling over

next few days
he waited for the right time
trying to seek out her,

his own flesh and blood
a convenient playmate
for his master's daughter

life took an unexpected turn
for no misdemeanour of hers
his daughter was sold to settle a bet

he threw the carving
smashing it on the wall
his heart broken to pieces

"dry tears of sorrow spilled nowhere"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To know where it came from, read my review of Roots by Alex Haley and my subsequent poem,
slaves to whom? after reading it.

21 comments:

DJPare said...

Love your words!
I wish I "got" poetry more though...

Granny Smith said...

An excellent, romantic, poetic response to a great injustice imposed on an entire people.

Robin said...

This broke my heart.

anthonynorth said...

Sadly, a repeating story. We never learn.

Anonymous said...

This makes a very challenging statement in such a beautiful, poetic way.

Gemma

Anonymous said...

How I commend you for creating poetry inspired by your read of ROOTS... it takes a genuinely noble person to face atrocities such as slavery- but a visionary-like artist to apply that 'review' to a poem. great JOb!!

danni said...

moving - very moving!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful addition to your pieces on Roots. You really seem to have got right inside the subject and almost made it your own.

Anonymous said...

I felt his anguish. Mission accomplished my dear.
Namaste.

polona said...

beautifully poignant...

Linda Jacobs said...

I love that last line! Sounds like Roots had quite an effect on you!

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Wow, G. This is powerful.

zetor said...

Great words.

Jennifer Hicks said...

fantastic post. i'm inspired!

Anonymous said...

Simply gorgous. You done good!

Preethi said...

lovely...

Anonymous said...

i was wondering if this was a continuation of yr previous post.. looked again and yes, it is.. slavery is not something we can get over easy... another good write...

ChefDruck said...

Beautifully written - his daughter was sold to settle a bet. Powerful and well written.

Anonymous said...

Ah! Your touch with words continues, ever as inspired.

nonizamboni said...

Thoughtful, beautifully written and sad viewpoint of a travesty. Thank you for sharing and for visiting my work too. I'll be thinking of this poem a lot.

Anna said...

Hi - I'm a poet and a blogger and I've recently created a new website for all poets and poetry readers.

I've added your link to my site and to my blog at

Online Poetry
and Free Poems. Would you like to link back?

I also wanted to know if you would be interested in contributing writing to my
blog, Your Poems Your Stories. (You can register for an account there
and post your own work).